Buckinghamia celsissima

Location & distribution maps

Phylogeny & links to associated information:

Wikipedia links:       Angiosperms > Eudicots >  Proteales > Proteaceae  > Proteaceae> Buckinghamia celsissima

Other links:     

Plant  information

Common name:        Spotted silky oak   

Etymology:   

• The species was described in 1868 by Ferdinand von Mueller in honour of Richard Grenville, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, from a collection of material made by John Dallachy near Rockingham Bay on 11 January 1865

• Its specific epithet is Latin for "very tall"

Flowers:                  

•  The white flower spikes appear over summer and autumn

• They are terminal and showy, drooping racemes up to 20 cm in length

Fruit:                         

• Flowers are followed by the development of woody follicles, 1.5–3 cm long

Leaves:         

•  Glossy dark green above and whitish below, the leaves are quite variable

• Juvenile leaves have one or more lobes 

• Adult leaves are simple and entire, measuring 8 to 16 cm  long by 3–7 cm wide

Stem & branches: 

Roots:         

Habit:        

• Rainforest tree reaching 30 m tall in its natural rainforest habitat, but is much smaller, reaching 10 m, in Australian east coast gardens

Habitat:   

• Tropical rainforests of northeastern Queensland

Distribution:                  

•  Endemic to the wet tropics rainforests areas of northeastern Queensland

Additional notes:        

• In the wild they are found more frequently in drier rainforest from altitudes of 200 to 1,000 m  above sea level

• They often grow with kauri pine (Agathis robusta)

• The species is grown widely in Brisbane and thrives in Sydney and Melbourne, yet is shy to flower in Cairns. Frosts render it difficult to grow in Canberra

•  It can be propagated from seeds or cuttings of hardened new growth

• Its flowerheads attract birds and insects

Sources of information:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckinghamia_celsissima (2023)